S1, E10 The Strangers

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(00:29):
This is Ed Falco on the air,reading The Strangers, a novel
in 19 episodes.
In episode 9, on their firstnight back on the farm after
observing the strangers inMillersville and Lynchburg,
Severn, Tommy, and Vi have theirfirst encounter with the pack.
Creatures that behave like apride of lions, look like big

(00:51):
dogs when on all fours, butalmost human when on two legs.
To escape them, they decide totravel to a farmhouse Severn
knows, where he hopes they'll besafer.
That's where we pick up Episode10.
After an all night trek alongovergrown trails, across a wide

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stream and through swampymeadows, they reached the
farmhouse, an ancient Victoriansurrounded by fields, with a
pond behind it, and encircled onthree sides by limestone hills.
The sun was directly overhead bythe time Vi collapsed on the
porch steps and looked out atthe hills, making it clear she
wasn't stepping foot in thehouse until someone else checked

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for corpses.
Tommy said, I'll go in.
You stay here with Vi.
Severn gestured toward thehills.
Keep your eyes open.
Why?
Vi jerked her head towardSevern.
You think those things may stillbe following us?
Just be alert.
Severn tried the door, found itunlocked, took a few steps into

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the house, and then almostbacked out again.
The front door opened onto agreat room with a long, polished
wood dining table surrounded byeight chairs.
A pair of MacBook Pro computerswith their familiar Apple logos
were opened across from eachother on the table, with stacks
of books between them andsurrounding them.
An extension cord ran from awall outlet to a power strip

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under the table, and bothcomputers were plugged into the
power strip.
He found a line of lightswitches on the wall and flipped
them up and down.
Nothing happened.
Both computer screens wereblank, but the keyboards weren't
dusty.
Nothing was dusty, in fact,which was the first thing he
noticed.
That and the absence of themusty basement smell of

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abandonment he had expected.
The interior of the house hadn'tsuffered any damage from the
storms.
The hardwood floors stillgleamed and the furnishings were
in good condition.
A grand piano occupied onecorner of the room, its lid
propped open.
He held, Is there anyone here?
Outside Tommy laughed andanswered, Just us ghosts.

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Chairs were pulled up to each ofthe computers and slung over the
back of them were a pair ofmatching automatic rifles.
He checked the clips and foundthem both fully loaded.
The books on the table alongsidethe computers were mostly
technical manuals about computerprogramming, along with a couple
of novels and a stack of Dilbertbooks.
He picked up Seven Years ofHighly Defective People and

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opened it to find a coffee stainon the first page.
He could hear Tommy and Vitalking outside, their voices
coming through the partiallyopen front door.
He considered warning them, buthe wasn't sure what he would be
warning them about.
He moved cautiously through thegreat room and into an old
fashioned library, where builtin bookcases lined three walls,

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the shelves packed with bothhardcover and paperback titles.
Most of the books were novelsand biographies and histories.
One shelf had what looked likethe complete works of Mark
Twain, alongside the novels ofJames Fenimore Cooper, including
The Leatherstocking Tales, whichSevern had fond memories of
reading as a boy.
There were also books by Emersonand Thoreau, Hawthorne and

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Melville, and dozens of otherAmerican classics.
Severn allowed himself a fewminutes to browse through the
tiles and then made his wayupstairs, climbing a long
polished wood staircase with agleaming thick banister.
In her master bedroom, he founda pair of leathery skeletons
side by side in bed, each with abook resting in the space where

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its lap would have been.
Stringy gray hair still clung towhat was left of their scouts.
Severn took in the scene for aminute, then locked the bedroom
door from the inside and pulledit closed.
A quick check of the rest of theupstairs turned up nothing
unusual.
Two more bedrooms, a sewingroom, a study.

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None of the rooms looked livedin.
He flipped a few switches toconfirm that the power was out.
When he checked the bedroom andconfirmed that there was no
running water, He found themedicine cabinet filled with
over the counter meds.
Aspirin, ibuprofen, variouscreams and potions, and
digestive aids.
From the front porch, Vi's voicecame into the house, checking on

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him.
He called back to her, said he'dbe right out, and then sat at
the top of the staircase.
Those two people, the old couplein the master bedroom, they
were, or had been, well off.
They appeared to have beeneducated and cultured, with
their library of books and theirgrand piano.

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And now they were, like everyoneelse.
Very much dead.
Severn massaged his temples,closed his eyes, and rested a
moment in his own darkness.
On the porch, Vi and Tommy werechattering, the way they always
chattered.
An endless supply of talkissuing from them like an
underground stream fed by anocean of this and that and the

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next thing.
Inside was the quiet of thehouse, and outside were Vi and
Tommy's voices, along with abird singing somewhere close.
A repetitive song he recognizedbut couldn't name.
He wasn't going to tell Vi orTommy about the couple.
He didn't want to move them outof their bed.

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Let them stay buried where theywere, side by side, in the
mausoleum of their bedroom.
A swelling part of him wishedthat he and Sarah both had been
awake that first night so thatthey both might now be sleeping
together, side by side, like theupstairs couple.
The biggest part of Severnwanted to be with Tommy and Vi,

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to protect them in whatever waypossible.
But the thought of living toomuch longer alone, without Sarah
to touch and hold and talk to,the thought of that was like a
shroud that kept wrapping itselfaround him and weighing him
down.
He took the iPod from his pantspocket, considered looking
through his pictures, and thenshoved it back in his pocket

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again.
He had taken to rationing theamount of time he could spend
browsing the picture library.
The iPod batteries had a limitedlifespan, and when they were
gone, the last of his old lifewould be gone with them.
At the bottom of the stairs,Tommy appeared with an old
Louisville slugger on hisshoulder.
Look what Vi found.

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He took a couple of big swingswith the old wooden bat.
Where'd she find it?
On the porch, leaning againstthe railing, like it was waiting
for her.
She needs two baseball bats now?
Tommy looked out to the porch,as if pondering the mysteries of
Vi.
He ignored the question.
What do you make of the guns andcomputers, he asked.

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Looks to me like there arestrangers living here.
He searched the upstairs.
Empty, Severn answered.
They drink Heineken's, Tommysaid.
Who does?
Strangers.
The bottom half of the fridge isstocked with Heineken's.
Could have been from before thelurching, Severn said.
Nope.
Still cold.
Severn descended the stairs.

(08:06):
You mean cold like cooler thanroom temperature?
I mean cold like sweatingcondensation.
How's that possible?
Severn looked around, trying tofigure where the kitchen would
be.
This way, Tommy said.
In the kitchen he found thecupboard stocked with canned
food and the refrigerator packedwith beer and wine.
He located a bottle opener in adrawer beside the sink, took two

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honeykins from the fridge andopened one for himself and one
for Tommy.
Tommy took a swig of beer andpulled up a seed at a small
kitchen table situated in frontof a window.
He scanned the fields beforeturning back to Severn.
So, he said, what are youthinking?
Do we keep going?
Look for someplace else?

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Where do you think the power iscoming from, Severn asked.
Gotta be a generator, Tommyanswered.
Probably in the basement.
Severn nodded in agreement.
There was no need to check.
There had to be a generatorsomewhere.
He pulled up a seat next toTommy and rubbed his thumb over
the mouth of the beer bottle.
There's no mess anywhere.
Nothing looks used.

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The upstairs rooms look likethey haven't been disturbed in
years.
Did you check the bathrooms?
They're stocked, Severn said.
He went over again what he hadseen in the upstairs bathroom.
He had assumed then that thesupplies belonged to the dead
couple.
Any clues?
Female supplies, Severn said andshrugged, like it didn't tell

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him much.
So we've got stranger womenliving here?
Also men's supplies, an electricrazor.
But that stuff could havebelonged to the owners, the
people who lived here before.
Someone's living here now, Tommysaid.
Someone's drinking beer.
That's like the strangers.
Say what you want about them.

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They've got good taste.
I don't think anyone's livinghere.
Severn was thinking of theskeletons in the bedroom, but
again chose not to mention themto Tommy.
Who would live in a house andleave corpses in the master
bedroom?
Where's the clutter?
Except for the computers and theguns, does this place look lived
in to you?
Not really, Tommy said, and thenhe straightened up suddenly.

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What's Vi doing?
Severn followed Tommy to theopen front door, where they both
saw Vi stretched out in thegrass across from the porch,
sleeping in the sunlight withher head on her backpack and her
automatic across her chest.
Sage lay beside her, headbetween her paws, looking back
at them.
The sun was shining brightly andthe day was growing warmer.

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I'm tired too, Tommy said.
Tired, dirty and smelly.
He was still dragging theLouisville slugger around with
him.
And he nudged Severn with it.
You too, he said.
We know next to nothing aboutthe strangers.
Severn took the baseball batfrom Tommy and leaned it against
the wall.
Maybe they have a militia or apolice force that's armed.

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Maybe this is an outpost,someplace they stop to take a
break when they're patrolling.
Or hell, maybe this is a huntinglodge, maybe they hunt dogs from
here.
Whatever, Tommy said.
He sighed in a way that said hewanted Severn to tell him what
to do next.
We'll stay here at least for thenight.
Severn stepped out onto theporch.

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The place is defensible againstdogs.
We'll have power for light oncewe locate the generator.
He walked out in front of thehouse and pointed to the hills.
If the dogs find us and comeafter us, they'll be vulnerable
coming across these open spaces.
We can see anybody coming from along way off.
If they make it to the house,they'll have to come up the

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stairs or through a window.
We'll have every advantage.
Great, Tommy said.
Not surprisingly, he didn'tsound excited.
Severn looked Tommy over andgrinned.
The kid was filthy.
The armpits and back of hisshirt were soaked through with
sweat.
Dude, Severn said.
You are one dirty kid, look atyou.

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Tommy glanced down at the mudand dirt splattered on his
sneakers and jeans.
And then he pointed at Severn.
You should see you, he said.
You've got mud all over yourface.
Let's go for a swim in the pondand get cleaned up, Severn said.
I'll wake up Sleeping Beauty.
Good idea.
Tommy turned back to the house.
I'll find us some clean towels.

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There's a linen closet, Severnsaid, top of the stairs.
Tommy disappeared into the houseand Severn called after him.
Bring a sheet or a blanket.
We'll make a picnic of it.
Good idea, Tommy called back.
Severn listened to Tommy boundup the stairs and then crossed
the grass to wake up Vi.
His shadow reached her first,sliding over her face and chest.

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We're supposed to go for a swimand a picnic, Vi said, without
opening her eyes, her voice fullof sleep.
Are you serious?
Yes.
We're dirty and smelly.
He knelt to her and brushed thehair off her face.
He wanted to give her a kiss onthe forehead but resisted.
It'll do us good.
Vi opened her eyes.
Did you get the bodies out ofthe house?

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Not a problem.
The house was empty?
Not quite, Severn said, and heexplained what they had found.
What if they come back, whoeverit was that's been there?
Strangers don't strike me asbeing especially dangerous.
Vi threw an arm over her eyes asif she couldn't bear to look at
Severn.
They killed off the entire humanrace and they don't strike you

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as being especially dangerous?
Not at the moment, no.
They don't seem dangerous.
And by the way, they didn't killoff the entire human race.
Vi said, softly, I can't imaginewhat you're thinking, Severn.
You're either some kind of weirdoptimist or you're crazy.
Severn squinted at Vi.
You don't sound like a fourteenyear old.

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Fourteen, Vi said?
I feel like I'm a hundred andfourteen.
Behind them, Tommy came out ofthe house balancing a stack of
blankets, towels, and clothes inhis outstretched hands, with two
plastic grocery bags slippedover his arms and dangling from
his elbows.
Found some clean clothes in thatlinen closet he called to
Severn.

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He paused at the foot of theporch steps, as if he were
considering going over to Severnand Vi.
Then he started for the pond.
Fai held a hand over her eyes toblock the glare of the sun.
You think it's warm enough for aswim?
Not really, Severn said, but wecan wrap up in blankets after if
we're cold.
Vi pulled herself to her feetand leaned against Severn.

(14:28):
Sage followed suit, stretching,standing, and pushing her bulk
up against Severn's leg.
At the porch, Vi made Severnwait while she ran into the
house and returned with the tworifles slung over her shoulder.
No sense leaving them there.
The three of them followed Tommydown a slight hill covered with
tall grass to the pond, whereSevern rigged up a blanket and

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divider behind which Vi couldundress down to her underwear.
He hung the blanket from abranch of a small tree, a mostly
symbolic gesture to Vi'smodesty.
It wasn't really necessary,since Tommy and Severn simply
turned their backs to her as sheundressed.
But Severn knew that she wouldappreciate it.
Tommy quickly stripped down tohis briefs.

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His body was thickly muscled.
Severn himself was in excellentshape.
Everyone else in the world mightbe dead, but he was in the best
physical condition of his life.
Tommy took a bar of soap fromone of the plastic bags and
trotted off into the pond,followed by Vi.
The kids yelped and howled andthen laughed and chattered about
the temperature of the water,which they both claimed was

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freezing.
Severn went in after them, andthough he neither yelped nor
howled, he did loudly agree thatthe water was unbelievably cold.
Thigh.
In her hurry to get cleaned upand out of the pond, had lost
some of her modesty.
She was in water up to herthighs, scrubbing her hair and
face with soap suds, back toback with Tommy.

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Her soaked panties weren'tcovering up much, and Tommy kept
dipping his head to the water ashe washed his hair.
Severn could see that he waspeeking at Vi.
He considered stepping betweenthem, blocking Vi from Tommy's
view, and then laughed athimself, climbed out of the
pond, and left the kids tofinish bathing.
Along with the towels andblankets, Tommy had found some

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boxer shorts and white cottonpanties and a couple of bras.
Severn laughed at the size ofthe bras, which had belonged to
a woman who hardly needed a bra,which was not the case with Vi.
The rest of the underwear wouldbe useful though.
Severn cocooned in his blanket,quickly toweled off and slipped
into the dry boxers beforepulling his clothes on.

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When the kids called for him, hegathered up the towels,
blankets, clothes, and cleanunderwear and carried them to
the pond.
He turned his back as theyshivered into the blankets and
got dressed.
Vi laughed and Severn turned tosee her dangling a bra in front
of Tommy.
Really?
She said and raised hereyebrows.
Tommy said, that's all thatthere was.

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I figured better than nothing.
Vi smirked and said, huh, as ifTommy was a mystery to her.
Severn said, okay, let's.
He was about to hand out a listof things to do to get the house
ready for the night when hestopped abruptly, just as Sage
leapt to her feet and spunaround to face the road.
An instant later, they all heardthe roar of a car engine as a

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flash of bright red flying overthe road appeared in the
distance.
From the pond, they looked outpast the house and beyond the
long expanse of surroundingfields to where patches of road
were visible here and therethrough stands of trees.
Behind them was the pond and thestream and a narrow strip of
woods at the foot of a curvingline of steep limestone hills

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that towered over everything.
In front of them was the houseand fields and woods, beyond
which was a paved road wherethey were now following the
bright red flashes of a carspeeding toward the farm,
appearing and disappearingthrough gaps in the trees.
Vi went for the weapons andtossed rifles to Tommy and
Severn.
Sage started toward the houseand Severn called her back.

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He tried to negotiate with abarrage of contradictory
impulses.
To run forward to the protectionof the house or backward for the
woods.
To spread out or stay together.
The car, however, was movingfaster than Severn's thinking.
Before he could make a decision,it was racing down the long
driveway.
That's a spider, Tommy said, andshook his head in reluctant

(18:27):
admiration.
Only the best of the best forthe strangers.
What's a spider, Vi asked.
She had dropped to one knee andwas holding the automatic in
both hands.
The car, Tommy said.
He stood alongside Severn, alsoholding his rifle at ready.
It's a Ferrari Spider.
The car, fire engine red andsleek as a laser, hit the brakes

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midway down the driveway andcame to a screeching stop.
Vi said, Looks like they see us.
Severn didn't say anything, butit struck him immediately that
the strangers were surprised tofind them there, thus the sudden
screech and stop.
Point the guns at the ground, hesaid.
When they didn't respondimmediately, he turned to them
and gestured for them to lowertheir weapons.

(19:10):
They're not looking for us, hesaid.
We've surprised them.
They weren't looking for ushere, Vi said.
That doesn't mean they're notlooking for us at all.
Severn said, Point the rifles atthe ground.
There's no need to signal thatwe're hostile.
Tommy and Vi lowered theirweapons.
The spider started moving again,slowly.

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It moved off the driveway andonto the grass as it approached
the pond.
Bright red, Effortlessly liquidin design, it seemed to slither
over the greenery of the field,pushing the grass aside and
carving a wide channel as itapproached.
Behind a sloping windshield, twofaces came into view, the barrel

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of a rifle rising alongside eachof them.
The driver was black and male,with skin so dark it seemed a
shade of blue.
The passenger was a woman, alsodark skinned, though compared to
the driver she looked almostwhite.
They were both young.
When the car was a hundred feetfrom the pond, it came to a
stop.

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It had been moving at a crawl,the engine humming softly under
a hood so bright red in sunlightit looked wet.
The moment after it stopped, thedriver cut the engine, and he
and the passenger watched Severnand the kids across the short
distance with blank, mildlycurious expressions.
They looked as though theydidn't know what to make of the
situation.

(20:34):
They didn't appear in the leastnervous or frightened.
When they finally stepped out ofthe car, they stood behind the
protection of the open doorswith their rifles in hand but
pointed at their feet.
They each had a second rifleslung over their shoulder and a
pistol holstered at their side.
The guy was skinny with a shavedhead.
He had big ears and huge eyesthat were magnified by thick

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black glasses secured withbright yellow croquis dangling
over the back of his neck.
He was wearing khaki slacks anda solid green tee.
If he wasn't ugly, he was atleast funny looking, especially
in comparison to the young womanacross from him, who was
beautiful, with long black hairand perfect skin.

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For several seconds, everyonestood their ground, silently
staring at each other, untilSage, tail wagging, barked
twice, as if in greeting.
and bolted toward the car.
Vi took a step toward Sage andyelled, Stop.
Come back here.
Sage stopped, looked back andforth from the car to Vi, and

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reluctantly returned to her andsat at her feet.
At the sound of Vi calling toSage, the girl's face paled.
The guy had taken a step back.
You can speak, he said.
His voice was deep and robustand sounded like it should be
coming from someone big andheavy rather than this odd
looking, skinny guy with yellowcroquis.

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Tommy looked at Severn.
Dude, he said, I think theseguys are human.
Vi threw Tommy a puzzled glanceand then splintered at the
couple as if trying to get abetter look.
She yelled, Who are you?
Oh my god, the girls said.
In the next instant, they weregone.

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They were all hurrying towardeach other.
Only afterwards did they realizethat they had thrown down their
weapons.

(22:42):
That was episode 10 of TheStrangers.
New episodes will be availabletwice a week on Mondays and
Fridays.
Until the novel is completed.
If you want to read ahead, aninexpensive digital edition of
The Strangers is available fromAmazon, Barnes Noble, and other
online bookstores.
This podcast is an experiment inalternatives to traditional

(23:03):
publishing.
If you'd like to support it, Andmore like it in the future,
please consider becoming asubscriber or a supporter.
If enough listeners choose to doso, that will go a long way to
help ensuring the podcast'ssuccess and continuation.
In any event, this is Ed Falcom,I wrote The Strangers, and I

(23:24):
hope you'll come back for thenext episode.